Alabama

'Sound of adventure' rang

Patricia Miklik Doyle/Huntsville TimesKen Barker is nearly blind from the beatings he received from German soldiers while being held prisoner during World War II.

Ranger endured horrors of D-Day, Nazi captivity
By KATIE BYERS
For The Times

To see photos of the sheer cliffs of Pointe-du-Hoc is to wonder how men like Ken Barker survived D-Day.

The rocky cliffs near Omaha and Utah beaches stand more than 100 feet high. Barker and other members of his 2nd Ranger Battalion scaled these cliffs using narrow rope ladders slick from sea water. Their mission was to knock out German cannons that overlooked the beach.

By the end of the battle, only 90 of the 225 men who began the assault were able to keep fighting.

"It was like being in a meat grinder," Barker recalls.

Barker doesn't often share his war experiences. His memories of D-Day, and of being a prisoner of war, still give him nightmares. He is nearly blind from beatings he received from his German captors. But he is a keen observer, recognizing people by the sound of their footsteps and sometimes their scent.

It's somewhat easier for him to recall the naïve 15-year-old who wanted to see the world outside Huntsville. Anything was better, he figured, than dealing with a strict teacher at West Clinton School.

"She didn't like the way I learned, and I didn't like the way she taught," he says. "I just couldn't stand her. So we came to a parting of ways."

His mother decided the best place for him was the Army. So he lied about his age and enlisted.

After training in Georgia, South Dakota and Louisiana, Barker started hearing about the elite Army Rangers and soon volunteered.

"It just had a magic ring to it," he recalls. "It was the James Bond in me, I guess. It had the sound of adventure to it."

Patricia Miklik Doyle/Huntsville TimesKen Barker shows the many medals he has earned from the wars he served in.

This adventure was eventually led by Lt. Col. James Rudder, who made a lasting impression on Barker. If it weren't for Rudder, Barker believes that he would still have only a sixth-grade education. But Rudder demanded that his men get an education along with training. Years later, Barker followed his advice and went back to school to earn an associate's degree.

"He was mean as the devil, and just about as tough," Barker says, "but you had to love him. One of the greatest men I ever met."

During his 31 years of service, Barker was also touched by the life of a man named Andy. Not long after D-Day, they were captured by Germans. They were stripped of their uniforms and given tattered, lice-infested clothes. They spent three months at a slave labor camp, where they were beaten severely.

They made a plan to escape together, but both were shot while running away. For three days, Barker carried Andy. He stole food, chewed and then fed it to Andy to try to keep him alive. They were both nearly shot again as the 116th infantry moved in on Brest. Andy eventually died in his arms, before Barker learned his full name.

Photo courtesy Ken BarkerKen Barker in World War II

It took Barker nearly six months to recover from his injuries. But he spent nearly 31 years in the Army, serving in the Philippines, China, Korea and Japan, and in the Alabama National Guard. Later, Barker retired after 26 years as a postal worker. He and his wife, Helen, have been married 56 years. They have two daughters, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Three years ago, Barker returned to France for the first time to tour the beach where he landed as an 18-year-old. When his bus arrived at the battlefield, he recalls, he didn't want to get out.

"It just had too many memories," he says.

Eventually, he did get off the bus. And after walking around, he found the crevice where he crawled up. It was that crevice, he's convinced, that kept him from being killed.

Ken Barker
Age: 82
Branch of service: Army Rangers, infantry, military police, signal corps, Alabama National Guard
Rank: Sergeant major
Unit: 2nd Battalion
Years of service: 1941-72
Honors/medals: Silver Star for Valor, Bronze Star with three clusters for Valor, Purple Heart with three clusters, Prisoner of War Medal, French Croix de Guerre, China Campaign Medal, European Pacific Occupation Medal, Korean Service Medal
Advice to today's soldiers: "Take pride in your unit. Get an education, whatever you do. Do your best. If that isn't good enough, then try again."